Jen's story

Hi there, this is my introduction story.
I'm 25 and I live in the East-European 3rd world country called Ukraine.
I was diagnosed with CD a year ago.Before it I was coupling with some mucus and blood in stool. There were episodes of constipations but they were not annoying for me.

The first doc I went to said it was because of anal fissure and recommended surgery. I was too "young and stupid" and agreed on surgery
without consulting any other proctologist. So after I've been suffering a lot from the post-op pain. The blood seemed to be gone but mucus remained.
The doc said 'I just do not know where it is coming from'...:eek2: What a remarkable comment from doctor =/

I had no time to be sick because of my job and went into the long business trip.
The blood that I've experienced before the surgery came back along with the fissure. So the surgery was pointless actually.
When I came back home after few monthes I decided to visit another doctor becuase of mucus. He just made a proctoscopy and said my colon did not look healthy. He said it could be a rare microscopic colitis or Crohn's desease and recommended colonoscopy.
Colonoscopy has shown inflammation in rectum and terminal illeum. And this is how my official Crohn's life began.
I'm trying to look for holistic treatments along with traditional meds.
There have been ups and downs during this year.
Mesalasine seems to help but I have bad side effects on 3 gramms\day already. Currently I've started Imuran.
My Crohn's is mild, I have no diharrea but last month I've started experiencing bad gut pains I've never experienced before. Though I had absolutely no symptoms all summer and thought my condition has improved.

The bad thing that I've already been having an auto-immune desease which requires tremendous efforts from patient every day: type 1 diabetes.
But before I did not realise how happy I was having only diabetes. It does not make you any pain. You only have some limitations in the life-style and amounts of food, constanly buy expensive stuff for insulin pump and glucometer and live a happy life with controlled blood-sugar.
Currently I have to couple with both SD and CD and it is a more complex task already.

I wonder if anyone here also has type 1 diabetes?
I've found some cases of Crohns and Diabetes1 in the internet. It seems those people have some common trends in Crohn's behaivour.

Thanks for attention ,
Jen

Hi Jen :welcome: to the forum. OH my, you have been through so much and so young. When your doctor said where is the mucous coming from...I thinking to myself the intestine you idiot! Sorry but no all Gi's are equally, or surgeons, I too found out the hard way. I dont not have diabetes and I am sorry you have to struggle with that. If you are in alot of pain then you may not be in the mild stages. No two people have the exact symptoms or severity of the disease. Have the doctors not put you on antibiotics such as Flagyl? Probiotic could help your situation too.

Glad you are here, many people here your age, they will come meet you and help you more. Take care of yourself and keep us posted ok!

Hi Pen, thanks for warm words!

I've been taking metronidazole (Flagyl substance) for a very short period and cancelled it because of headaches. I do not see any difference when taking probiotics.
All my poop tests show excellent flora, immune tests did not show inflammatory response specific to bacteria or viruses.
Thus I have a feeling that the root cause of my CD is not viral/bacterial but no one can be sure

Hello Jen and welcome..
I am so sorry to hear your condition is not improving yet..
I found metronidazole made me feel very nausea. I am glad you found this site as it will help you gain more understanding about this disease..
Take care..

Jen have you been tested for celiac disease? Diabetes and crohns have been linked to celiac.

Thanks, Del!

Bowmancrew, yep I've done some blood tests for celiac (do not remember which ones exactly, smth like antibodies to gliadin and few others). They were negative.

Right after diagnosis I started to experiment with foods and found that gluten induced discomfort at the terminal ileum area though it made no difference to the rectum symptoms. I've minimized gluten consumption since then.
Now if I eat it I have no visible effects on the ileum feelings, though I try to avoid it.
For some time I had a little hope that may be I do not have Crohn's but weird form of Celiac. But unfortunately time passes and it behaves more like Crohn's

Btw I've noticed long time ago that gluten-containing grains induce my GERD symptoms. When I avoid them I completely forget about GERD.
Many people report similar observations.